Cape Verde shock Ghana

Abidjan – Substitute Garry Rodrigues (above) pounced in injury time to give Cape Verde a shock 2-1 win over four-time former champions Ghana in their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Sunday.

The Black Stars looked set to come away with a draw after Alexander Djiku headed home to cancel out a Jamiro Monteiro goal for Cape Verde at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.

Majeed Ashimeru was also denied a goal for Ghana following a lengthy VAR check, but Cape Verde grabbed three points in the Group B match as Rodrigues found the net in the 92nd minute.

It was a fine victory for the island nation, who reached the knockout stage at the last Afcon, and puts them top of the section after group rivals Egypt and Mozambique drew 2-2 earlier.

“It means a lot, but the objective for any team in their opening game is to win,” said Cape Verde coach Pedro “Bubista” Brito.

“It has a special flavour because at our first Afcon in 2013 Ghana eliminated us.

“We want to show the world what we can do, that we are small but we can compete on footballing terms with all teams in Africa.”

The evening was also notable for the appearance as a substitute of Andre Ayew, with the 34-year-old becoming only the third player to feature in eight editions of the competition.

He shares the record with Rigobert Song, currently coach of Cameroon, and Egyptian Ahmed Hassan.

Ghana’s last title came in 1982 and they went out of the last edition in 2022 in the group stage.

Chris Hughton’s team also came here off the back of a 1-0 defeat to the Comoros in a World Cup qualifier in November, and there are doubts about their chances of making anything of an impact in Ivory Coast.

“We conceded a very poor goal, and hence it is a very disappointing night for us,” Hughton said of Cape Verde’s winner.

“We have no choice but to make sure it is a favourable result in our next game against Egypt.”

The Black Stars will face Egypy on Thursday. –